Seles' Attacker Gets A Wrist-slap

In tennis, when a patently incorrect decision has been made by a linesman, the umpire has the prerogative to call a "let," meaning that the point must be replayed as a matter of fairness.

The German justice system now urgently needs to provide for a similar "let" call to reconsider Wednesday's outrageously wrong verdict in which a Hamburg judge freed the confessed attacker of tennis star Monica Seles.

Guenter Parche, an unemployed 39-year-old East German, admitted he had stalked the former No. 1 women's player before rushing onto the court and plunging a kitchen knife into her back during an April 30 match.

Parche said his obsessive love for German star Steffi Graf compelled him to eliminate Seles so Graf could regain the top ranking in women's professional tennis.

The 19-year-old Seles has been unable to play competitively since the attack and has consequently surrendered the No. 1 rank to Graf.

Despite Parche's confession, Judge Elke Bosse, who could have sentenced him to a maximum of five years in prison for causing grievous bodily harm, instead gave him a suspended two-year sentence, in effect setting him free. While noting Parche's "highly abnormal personality," the judge was more impressed by his "highly believable" expression of remorse.

Atrocious call, judge. Parche belongs either in prison or a mental institution, not free to indulge his murderous fantasies.

By turning him loose to wander the streets and sports arenas, Judge Bosse has sent a troubling message to stalkers everywhere that it is now open season on the celebrities who unknowingly star in their demented dreams.

Prosecutors have properly appealed for a new call by a more objective umpire.